Before Lucidity
by Romas1912
Summary: The mission to Vagonbrei forces Sam and Daniel to re-evaluate their lives. AU from 10.02 'Morpheus'.


**Before Lucidity**

Author's notes: this story is based on a scene from 10.02 'Morpheus', but diverges from the rest of that episode and from the rest of S10. Therefore this story is best read as an AU.

Rating: T

Special thanks: to my writing partner, quinceasmince

Feedback: all reviews are extremely welcome, and I encourage you to be as constructively critical as you wish. I am always looking for advice on how to improve my writing.

Disclaimer: all Stargate SG-1 characters belong to MGM. I have respectfully borrowed these characters for the purposes of exercising creativity. No profit was made in the process. Any references to people or locations that resemble real life are purely co-incidental.

* * *

The hut was too quiet. It was too grey. The air was too thick; too stifling. She rubbed her temples in frustration. Her eyes felt like lead, her head was dizzy, and her neck and back ached from prolonged sitting. It was becoming harder to focus on her laptop, harder to keep track of time, harder to keep awake, and while she knew this acutely, she couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she looked up to see Daniel's head drop down onto the book he was reading. "Daniel," she called.

Daniel mumbled something indistinguishable, slowly peeling one eye open.

She kicked him under the table. "Daniel, come on, you have to stay awake."

He jerked up when she kicked him again. "Uhu, ow, what was that?" he grimaced.

"You were about to fall asleep,"

Daniel responded by producing something between a groan and a yawn, but checked himself midway. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't do that; yawning's contagious. Have you found anything else?"

"No," she conceded despondently.

Daniel didn't seem surprised. "It's alright. I swear I've been reading the same sentence for hours," he sighed.

"Do you think Cam and Teal'c have found anything?" she yawned.

"Hope so. There's got to be something left behind in that cave. I mean, by the looks of it no-one's been through the 'gate for close to a century, so what we're looking for still has to be on the planet."

"But everything on this planet is either asleep or dead, Daniel. Those bodies we found – they've barely been touched by any worms or maggots."

"Or maybe this planet never had such creatures to begin with," Daniel theorised.

"All I'm saying is that even the insect life appears to be missing,"

"Yet we _did_ hear those noises out in the woods, right?" he watched her as she got up and stretched. "I know we couldn't have imagined it because we were barely tired at the time."

"Assuming that whatever _it_ is is alive, how can we be sure it'll be in the cave?"

"We can't, but there could be more than one of them - does your head feel really hazy?"

She nodded. "It's worsening," she handed him the water flask.

"Thanks – what was it that I was saying?"

"That it's possible there are multiple unseen, noisy creatures."

"Multiple … did I say that?" he frowned sleepily. "But it makes sense, doesn't it? Two creatures would make it much more likely for at least one to be in …" at this point his head slouched on the table, his glasses almost sliding off his face.

"Daniel?" she heavily prodded his arm. "Daniel, stay with me."

He yelped softly when she kicked his leg, but didn't rouse. She slapped his back, again to no avail.

"Come on, Daniel, wake up!" she yelled directly at this ear. Had she any iced water she would have poured it over him. She pounded his back insistently, weighing up her options.

She could punch him; a right hook would be painful enough, but she couldn't risk knocking him unconscious. She fleetingly considered the idea of shooting him but felt her chest wrenching at the thought.

"Daniel! Listen to me! You have to wake up!" all she could hear from him were sleep-laden grunts of pain, and the sound of her hand hitting his unresponsive back.

Desperation overtook her. She manoeuvred him into the recovery position. His airway was clear. She flew into chest compressions.

_1, 2, 3,_ she counted inside her head, _4, 5, 6, 7, 8 …_

"Wake up, Daniel!"

… _13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 …_

"God, Daniel, wake up! Just wake up!" her heart pounded violently. "… 28, 29, 30!"

She jumped and gave him two big breaths. His chest rose and fell. Nothing changed.

"Wake the hell up, Daniel! Come on, _wake_ up!" she thumped hard. Adrenaline throbbed through her. "Daniel!"

Another set done. Another two breaths. Daniel's chest rose and fell. No improvement.

She kept working on him. She ignored the tears stinging at her eyes. He would wake up. He _had_ to wake up!

Before she knew it she was in a fifth set. She worked on as if possessed. Her pace was steady but feverish. She would make him awaken. She had to believe. She had to hope.

"Daniel! _Damn _it, Daniel! I need you to _wake_ up!"

Time seemed to warp. Her arms burned, but she didn't notice. She just powered on, even though it was becoming harder and harder to breathe. Exhaustion was overtaking her, but by then she was too weak to care. She needed him to awaken. She had to keep going. She could save him. She could do it. She just had to believe. Just had to hope. She had to …

* * *

To be continued


End file.
